Julia Strong

Talk for Writing Secondary Expert

julia.strong@talk4writing.com

Julia Strong offers Talk for Writing training to support literacy across the curriculum in the secondary sector which has had excellent feedback. Julia outlines the type of training she provides below.

Talk for Writing across the secondary curriculum

The training I offer uses the Talk for Writing approach to help teachers to support students in becoming powerful communicators across the curriculum; it builds on the very successful and now very wide spread primary approach.

I have been focusing on this area for many years now and what I have found is that if a school really wants to improve literacy standards this involves adapting the way that teachers teach their subject to ensure that the students can talk confidently about whatever subject they are being taught about prior to being expected to write about it. The approach also improves reading because it involves analysing exemplar text, widening understanding through wider reading and re-reading writing to understand how it can be improved. Obviously changing practice cannot be done overnight and the approach can only be developed through practice rather than through policy – the policy being based on the best of the practice.

The actual training is very interactive. It includes introducing the Talk-for-Writing approach and then taking teachers through the five steps below for amending units so that they experience the sort of activities the students would experience:

A. Creating the right exemplar text

B. Warming up the words

C. Warming up the phrases

D. Internalising the pattern of the text

E. Consolidating learning

I use examples from every curriculum area so all teachers can see how the approach applies to them. The afternoon session of a training day is usually a workshop session that allows teachers to start working out how they would adapt a unit of work in the light of what they have heard in the morning session.

There are two approaches that I have found work well; one based on first focusing on a group of teacher enthusiasts, and the other beginning with the whole staff. The group approach involves a day’s training for a group of teachers from a range of curriculum areas, including one member of senior management who can help lead the initiative. The group can then start to spread the approach in their areas once they have developed it in their own classrooms. This approach works best when there is a second training day for the team with enough space in between the days to allow the teachers to put ideas into practice.

The second approach begins with training the whole staff. This can then be followed up either by a group of enthusiasts who could then receive further support in how to take the ideas forward or by a member of senior management who can lead the development of the approach within the school.

Either approach works if it is followed through appropriately. Brighton and Hove Authority chose to involve all their schools using the enthusiasts’ approach with three days’ training over a year and now all the secondary schools in the authority have included developing the Talk for Writing approach in their development plans.

In addition, I provide training for local authorities, often including primary as well as secondary delegates. In which case, there is an additional focus on primary secondary transfer as well as the usual focus on showing secondary colleagues what high standards of literacy teaching primary colleagues can achieve.

I also provide training for English departments, which wherever possible is strengthened by including teachers from local primary schools, as well as training for specific curriculum areas, for example, science or maths.

Secondary Training Projects

Training is much more effective if it is not of the one-off variety but is followed up by at least a second training day say three months later to allow people the time to trial the ideas and then consolidate their thinking in the follow-up session. In addition, it is always more effective if there is a project team which is trained prior to the first whole-school training day, and then this group can lead the approach within the school or within their section of the school and make certain that it is effective.

Julia offers a variety of project training in Talk for Writing, including training for all-through schools that cover both the primary and secondary stages. The project is adapted to meet the needs of the school and schools can negotiate variations on the structures below. For example, a project team could be trained so that they deliver the whole school training themselves.

A typical short project for a secondary school would consist of:

Day 1: Project team training day with a small project team including a range of curriculum areas and led by a senior manager. The day would include an interactive introduction to the Talk for Writing process and how it can be developed to include all curriculum areas so that it becomes an effective way of achieving a meaningful approach to literacy across the curriculum which raises attainment. By the end of the day, all members should be in a position to trial the approach within their subject. This day is normally timetabled three months prior to the whole-staff training day.

Day 2: English department training day to provide in-depth training for English teachers in the approach covering a wide range of text types as well as poetry, with a focus on building in progression so that students develop powerful transferrable communication skills. Ideally, this day is held soon after the project team day to build up expertise in, and enthusiasm for, the approach prior to the whole-school training day.

Day 3: Whole day’s interactive training for all staff (including teaching assistants) on Talk for Writing across the curriculum. This would include material from a wide variety of curriculum areas demonstrating a range of practical ways of helping students internalise the language they need to express themselves effectively. This enables all teachers to see how the approach can help them engage students and raise attainment in their subject. The day ends with a workshop session so that teachers immediately start to plan how to adapt units of work to put the ideas into action. This day would be held about 3 months after the project-team training day.

Day 4: Follow-up meeting with project team three months after the training day. This day would focus on showcasing progress so far, discussing how to overcome any barriers to developing the approach and deciding on the next steps, as well as providing extra training.

A typical full project for a secondary school would consist of:

The four days as above plus

Day 5: A second whole day’s training for all staff. This would include an opportunity for staff to present the approach in action in a range of areas as well as to receive more training. The day would again end with a workshop session to further develop materials and offer departments a chance to discuss how best to develop the approach to suit the needs of their subject with Julia.

Day 6: Final meeting with project team or senior managers to discuss progress and decide how to deal with any remaining issues, as well as how to embed the approach and maximise progression. It is hoped that by this stage of the process, a school may be in a position to become a Talk for Writing training school, once the approach has been embedded.

Project training costs £1250.00 per day plus expenses.

If you are interested in booking Julia for your school, cluster or authority, she provides training during certain months of the year. To find out more, email julia.strong@talk4writing.com